Apparatus for the production of coke and gas in horizontal chamber ovens



C. STILL Feb. M, 1936..

CTION OF com: AND GAS IN HORIZONTAL CHAMBER OVENS APPARATUS FOR THEPRODU Filed June 12, 1951 Patented Feb. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES wantAPPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION COKE AND GAS 1N HORIZONTAL CHAM- BER OVENSCarl Still, Recklinghausen, Germany Application June 12, 1931, SerialNo. 543,960 In Germany June 19, 1930 2 Claims.

The'object of the apparatus described below is to provide means, inhorizontal chamber ovens for the production of coke and gas, by which aneasy and rapid withdrawal of the gases and 5 vapours of distillationfrom a charge of coke is "l tated.

The accompanying drawing, which illustrates the new apparatus, is avertical longitudinal section taken through the centre of an ovenchamber in the condition in which it has been freshly 15 charged withcoking coal.

The oven chamber, which in the usual manner is heated from both sidewalls, is bounded above by a brickwork roof (1, below by the sole b, andat the front and back by the doors 0 and d.

20 In the oven chamber there is a charge J of coal,

'the surface it of which is made horizontal by the usual levellingmeans, a free gas collecting space 9 being left between this surface andthe arch of the oven roof a.

Five charging openings 1', distributed over the whole length of thechamber, are provided in the oven roof a. At the right-hand end of thechamber there is a gas withdrawal opening m on which is an ascensionpipe 72 connected to a gas and tar main 1). Also, according to theinvention, by

.the side of and between the charging openings i in the oven roof atthere is a suitable number,

according to the example illustrated six, of narrow openings or passagesis passing through the roof at. All these passages k are connected bylateral tubulures o with a gas collecting pipe 12 disposed in the ovenroof, and connected over a closing device q to a second gas and tar mainw.

The buckstays r are extended upwards for a certain distance over theoven roof at both sides of the oven, and carry at their upper ends apair of rails s which form a running track for an apparatus 13constructed as a traveller. A shaft 7', parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the oven 45 "chamber and supported on the traveller t, isprovided at its left-hand end with a suitable driving apparatus (forexample a motor) and carries six winding drums u disposed verticallyover the openings 7c of the roof a. Tubes x or Z or solid 50 rods y aresuspended by cords a wound on the drums u in such a manner that they canpass through the passages 7c into the oven chamber and be inserted intoor withdrawn from the charge 1 of coal. These tubes 0:, l or rods y, 55which are preferably pointed at their lower end,

act as formers by means of which channels or ducts 6 can be made in theinterior of the charge f. In the drawing, for the purpose of explainingthe working, several tubes m, ac, Z and rods y are represented atdifierent heights as suspended from the cords a or inserted in the coalcharge 7; practically, however, the arrangement would usually be suchthat all the forming bodies were suspended at the same level andinserted simultaneously into the oven chamber and withdrawn togetherfrom it.

The working of the described arrangement can, for example, be asfollows: when the coke formed from the previous charge has been removed,and the doors 0 and d have been inserted, the coal is 15 dropped looselyin the usual manner into the chamber through the charging openings 1' ofthe roof a and is levelled from the door, (1 which is provided with anopening for this purpose, so that the mass 7 of the coal has ahorizontal surface h. l

The forming bodies :1:, I, y, suspended on the cords z, are inserted bythe winding drums at on the apparatus t through the openings 70 in theroof into the oven chamber and into the mass f'25 of coal, so thatvertical ducts e extending approximately over the whole height of thecharge to the surface it are formed in the coal. The formers x, Z, y arethen raised and removed entirely from the chamber.

The formers can be removed directly after their insertion if the ductse, as soon as they are formed, are suficiently consolidated soas toremain without danger of collapsing after the removal of the formers. Inthis case the solid rods y can be used as the formers. If, however, theducts e cannot be relied on with certainty to maintan their form, andonly acquire sufficient rigidity after the gasification and cokingprocess has proceeded to a certain stage, it is advisable to employ asthe formers tubes at which remain for a certain time in the ducts; inorder that in this position they should not hinder the flow of the gasesand vapours their walls are provide-d with perforations distributed overthe whole of the length projecting into the oven chamber. A tube of thiskind remaining temporarily in the oven chamber or the charge 1 of coalis represented in the drawing at r and Z.

It is obvious that the perforations in the tubes enable the gases andvapours within the charge of coal and the oven chamber to flow freely asin empty duct e. Also it is not necessary, as shown with the tube as,that such a tube should pass through the free gas collecting space 9'and thereby connect the duct e formed by it with the opening is in theroof above it; it is, on the other hand, sufiicient if the tube has onlya length such that its upper end extends to the surface it of the chargeI of coal, as illustrated in the drawing with the tube Z. The withdrawalof the tube as is facilitated if, as shown in the drawing in the case ofthe tube .22, its lower end is upset into a slightly larger and roundedform, so as to produce a duct of somewhat larger diameter than that ofthe body of the tube, since in this way the external surface of the tubeis not jammed by the surrounding mass of coal.

It is obvious that in the described method of working, if required, thecharging openings 1' of the oven roof a can be utilized for theinsertion of the formers 3:, Z, y as well as the openings 70 in the roofprovided especially for this purpose, or only the charging openings 2'may be provided and the openings is omitted.

If separate charging openings i are provided, in addition to theopenings k in the roof, for the introduction of the formers x, l, y, theformers m, l, y can be introduced through the openings k in the roofinto the oven chamber until they are at their lowest positions, and thecoal can then be dropped through the openings 2' into the chamber, andthen finally the formers x, Z, 1/ withdrawn upwards, leaving the ducts ein the mass of the coal. Also in this case obviously the formers can bewithdrawn directly or, when perforated tubes are used, at a later stage.The levelling of the coal in this method of working, since it must beeffected after the introduction and before the removal of the formers,requires special precautions in order that the levelling tools and theinserted formers should not mutually interfere.

When the formers x, Z, y have been removed from the chamber after theducts have been formed and all the openings 70 and i in the roof havebeen closed by plugs or covers, the gases and vapours of distillationcan be drawn off from the oven chamber.

When the collecting pipe p is provided, as described, the openings orpassages 70 in the roof can be used for drawing off the gases andvapours of distillation from the gas collecting space 0. In this casethe gases and vapours emanating through and from each of the ducts e aredrawn oiT directly, along the shortest way, into a passage is situatedimmediately above and pass then into the gas and tar main w. If the gasand tar main 1), with the ascension pipe n, is provided as described,the gases and vapours of distillation can also be drawn off through theopening m in the roof into the gas and tar main 1; either exclusively inthis path, in which case the collecting pipe p and the gas and tar mainw are no longer required, or in conjunction with the describedwithdrawal through this collecting pipe p into the gas and tar main w.When both containers 0 and w are provided, it is preferable to utilizethe container w in the first stage of the gasification and cokingprocess in which mainly cooler gases and vapours are developed, and thento shut oil this gas and tar main w by means of the valve q, and in thenext succeeding second stage to use the gas and tar main 1), which up tothat time has been closed, for drawing off the later developed andconsiderably hotter gases and vapours.

The ducts 6 formed by the described apparatus in the interior of thecharge 1 of coal provide the quickest and shortest path for the flow ofthe volatile products of distillation formed during the gasification andcoking. In this way the freshly developed volatile constituents areprevented from flowing towards the heated walls of the chamber and frombeing decomposed as they 5 pass along these highly heated surfaces, asit is the case in the usual manner of working. In this usual method,direct losses also occur in these volatile constituents by the fact thatthe charge of coal adhering closely to the walls of 0 the chamber, atleast in the initial stage in which no fissures or cracks have beenformed in the coke by shrinkage, obstructs the flow of gases and vapoursalong the walls, so that the freshly produced gases and vapours ofdistillation are liable to pass through the chamber walls, which arenever entirely gas-tight, into the heating flues. These losses in theproducts of distillation are excluded by the arrangement according tothe invention. By avoiding the drawbacks occurring in the usual methodof working, the quality and yield of the by-products of the distillationof the coal are improved. The tar contains more valuable constituents oflow boiling point and a smaller admixture of less valuable constituentsof high boiling point of pitch-like character.

Since the volatile products of distillation can flow in the directionfrom the heated walls of the chamber towards the ducts disposed in thecentre of the charge of coal, the heat transmission from the walls ofthe chamber into the mass of coal is increased and facilitated. In thisway the process of distillation is accelerated and less heat wasted. Atthe same time, by avoiding the concentration of heat and overheating,the production of coke in large pieces of exceptionally good quality isensured. Since the freshly developed gases and vapours of distillationare led away from the walls of the chamber, deposition of graphite, dueto decomposition of the gases, on the walls is avoided or at leastreduced, an advantage which is more particularly of importance in modernchamber ovens with highly intensive heating.

It is not absolutely necessary that the ducts e, as shown in the exampleof the drawing, should form a single row in the central plane of thecoal cake; they may be distributed in several rows or in otherarrangements between the 50 bounding sides of the mass of the coal.

Having thus described the nature of the said invention and the bestmeans I know of carrying the same into practical eiTect, I claim:-

1. The combination of an'oven having a horizontal chamber for thedistillation of coal including a roof having spaced passages in thecentral longitudinal plane of the chamber passing substantiallyvertically through said roof, and a mechanism for forming ducts in acharge within the oven chamber comprising a track disposed over each endof said chamber in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axisthereof, a carriage on said tracks adapted to be brought into thecentral longitudinal plane of the chamber, 65 a plurality of mutuallyindependent elongated duct forming tools adapted to pass through saidpassages, duct tool operating means for each of said tools of theplurality carried by said carriage and spaced along its length toregister with 70 said passages, and means for independently operativelyconnecting each of said duct forming tools with its respective operatingmeans whereby the tools may be moved vertically into and out of saidchamber through said passages for the 75 dinal axis of said oven, acarriage adapted to move along said tracks, elongated duct forming toolsadapted to pass through said passages, winding drums on said carriageadapted to be positioned over said passages, cables attached to theupper end of said tools and to said drums, means for simultaneouslyrotating said drums for moving said tools vertically into and out ofsaid chamber through said passages forthe purpose of forming ductswithin a body of coal charged 10 into said chamber.

CARL STILL.

